For Love of the Scripture
by CookiesAreSoHot
Summary: Knight Captain Colvin whispers prayers forgotten by so many. He never expected someone to reply back, especially not someone like her. rating subject to change. Colvin/Female LW
1. Chapter 1

A/N: a hot older, religious man meets a vault stray. flirting involving bible passages takes place. this is not meant to at all offended. i fall in love with the most minor characters ever.

* * *

When he first meets her, it's under heavy fire by muties, Initiate Jennings body by his feet and with the sound of gunfire and mutant screams ringing loud in the air. She's not hard to miss, which is more to say then most natives, especially if they're wearing… what he assumed was a vault suit someone did their best to add some extra protection to in the form of leather armour.

101 _._

"New recruit?" He asks, more to himself then to Lyons, but Lyons answers, shrugging.

"Just a stray we picked up." The Sentinel remarks distantly, clearly thinking their guest more a burden than anything else. "The one that blundered into the Uglies over on 42nd. Says she's on her way to GNR, figured she could tag along."

Colvin smiles under his helmet, an empty gesture since she couldn't see, and chimed a friendly welcome to the civilian. He doubted Lyons or any of his brothers offered the same courtesy after all.

It works, because she gives him a half-smile, even as she continues to firmly grasp at her rifle.

"You don't need to worry. You're with friends now. We'll see you safely through." He continues, his smile never dissipating, even if she couldn't see it.

He could practically _hear_ Vargas' eyes roll at his comment.

Colvin just shot Vargas and Lyons a look. "My brothers may be gruff, but they will lay down their lives for you." He reassures their guest, but she says nothing, only raising an eyebrow at him in response before Lyons' gave the signal to move forward.

To her credit, she's a good shot and doesn't get in his way. She's still green, he can see that. Her grip on that rifle isn't as steady as he first thought. Not as green as Reddin or Jennings (Maker, rest his soul) though, but it's clear this isn't her first mutant kills, and to her credit, she's also probably not much older than the two Initiates, if not younger. They clear through the school smoothly before Lyons' gives the orders on how to approach the base, purposefully ignoring the stray.

Colvin glances at their guest, who's looking more and more increasingly annoyed at Lyons' effort to ignore her, despite the fact (even if Colvin wouldn't audibly admit it) that she was proving a steadier and better shot then the trigger happy Reddin. Admittedly though the stray had her Pipboy to help her.

"Come with me if you like. We'll have the best view." He offers, again with the empty gesture of smiling under his helmet.

She gives him another half-smile, genuine and somewhat relaxed, even if he did just watch her take down a few muties, and takes him up on his offer, following him up a broken staircase. He kneels before the window of their 'perch', rifle steady in his grasp as he eyes over the base, at super mutants and brothers alike.

"This looks like the main force…" He whispers, again, more to himself. "Many tormented souls will meet the Maker today. I will pray for forgiveness."

He almost forgets she's there for a moment as he signals Lyons' over the radio and settles his gaze into the sights of his rifle, taking a sharp breathe. " _Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death."_ He recites under his breath, ready to take the shot before he hears her finally make a noise.

She gives a chuckle of wonder before the first words he ever hears her speak surprise him. _"I will fear no evil. For thou art with me."_

He can't even ask her how or where she knows that from before she's suddenly taken a shot with her rifle, leaving a large indent into the head of a now screaming mutie. If it had been a more powerful gun, she probably would've taken the head clean off.

After the last mutie is down she takes a sharp sigh and leans slightly back on her heels, lowering her rifle and he glances at her quickly.

The vault suit hugging her frame is bugging him now. He wouldn't say in a bad way, just in a way he couldn't shake from his mind. In his 40 years in this world, Colvin has met a few vault dwellers before, but it usually never turned out good for them. A scribe he only half listened to had told him once that most were the sad results of experiments usually, carried out by the Enclave before the Great War. If she was from one of those vaults, he supposed that's where she may've learnt that verse from… He knew a small handful of people in the Waste still practised the faith but…

"You were right." She chuckles, breaking him out of his train of thought as she reaches into one of the pockets of her suit for a cigarette and a lighter.

He blinks, grateful for his helmet obstructing his face as he's simply staring at her dumbly. "Huh?"

She lights her cigarette and takes a long drag, smirking at him in a way that makes his mouth suddenly feel dry. "We did have the best view."

Colvin chokes out a laugh. "Told you we woul – "

He's cut off by the sound of a loud, gut wrenching roar and of steel bashing against steel and goes pale behind his helmet. The Knight Captain barely makes out the sound of Vargas crying out for Reddin before the explosion hits them and he's on top of the stray, having thrown her down to do his best to cover her from the fire and shrapnel from the explosion.

There's screams and desperate orders from the bottom floor and over the radio as the Behemoth roars in anger, swinging its makeshift hammer around in blind and mindless rage, but all he can hear is her swearing underneath him.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck._ " She hisses underneath him, an audible gasp of pain following as he moves wrong and digs his armour further into her rather thin suit from grasping for his rifle before he pushes himself off her.

He doesn't mutter an apology as the soldier in him kicks in again and merely begins taking immediate fire.

If he didn't think her green before, he definitely does now, but he can't fault her for that. In his 20+ years on the field, he's only seen maybe 5 Behemoth's, tops. To her credit, she gets up pretty quick, and even with the obvious terror written on her face, doesn't hesitate unloading rounds of hot lead into the Behemoth's skin.

It goes down, but not quick enough in Colvin's opinion. The last bullet hits right through its skull as it howls in pain before slacking down to the ground like a ton, the Behemoth's blood beginning to pool across the concrete. Reddin is dead, if the explosion didn't kill her, the way the Behemoth threw her across the courtyard certainly did and Lyons and Vargas are beside themselves with anger and grief over the loss. The loss of a brother, even a local Initiate, was always hard, especially for the Pride.

He glances at the stray, who is still trying to regain some form of composure, and feels an odd stab of guilt go through him that he was more concerned for her then he was his brothers. Colvin gives a few sharp intakes of air, still trying to catch his breath, before he solemnly asks if she's alright.

She licks her lips, they're dry and chapped, and there's a thin veil of sweat over her features (why is he noticing that?) and she doesn't respond to his question. He's about to ask again, reaching out to grasp her shoulder when she shoves his hand away, and murmurs a quiet apology about Reddin before jumping from the window of their ledge to walk over to Lyons and Vargas only giving a brief chat before she continues past his brothers and into the building, rifle clicking at her side.

The Knight Captain watches her walk off, realises she's walking with a slight limp on her left, probably fucked it up when he jumped her, then realises he's watching her ass as she walks, realises he's suddenly craving a taste of that cigarette she had and then shakes the thoughts from his mind.

He needs to pray.

 _A lot._

* * *

A/N: i'm hoping to average at least one bible verse every 1 - 2 chapters but we'll see how it goes. would apperciate feedback.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry, this one is a bit short, next one will be longer.

* * *

He never got her name.

He's only just realising that as he makes his way down from his perch and across the courtyard.

Colvin thinks about asking Lyons or Vargas, but both are grieving and with how they both eyed their guest, he doubted either cared to ask. She's in the same building as he is, it wouldn't be so hard to ask would it?

So after he heads in after her, he catches Knight Dillion and asks what she wanted. The Knight tilts his head at him but answers. "Don't rightly know why she's here, Sir, she didn't care to explain much. Asked where Three Dog was and what he did. Told her he's upstairs."

"And her name?" Colvin pushes, knows he's pushing it when Dillon and Finley take a glance at each other.

"We… She didn't care to say, sir." Finley remarks slowly.

"With the Behemoth outside…" Dillion continues, shifting uncomfortably on the spot. "She seemed kind of tired, Sir. Was limping funny, thought maybe she got hurt in the fight. We told her to let herself get checked out by the medic, but…"

Colvin holds up his hands. "It's alright, brothers." He assures them, smiling behind his helmet before he gives a quick glance up to the door leading to Three Dogs studios upstairs.

 _I will fear no evil. For thou art with me._

The Knight Captain shakes her voice from his mind before he moves to undo the hatches of his helmet, shaking his ashen blonde hair free as he slides it off. " _Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth."_ He mumbles under his breath.

"Sir?"

He looks up at Dillion and Finley and merely gives them a half assed smile, too tired to do much else. "The work of the Maker is thirsty work, I could use a drink, Brothers."


	3. Chapter 3

Colvin doesn't let himself get wasted anymore. He's getting old and he still wants to be on the field for a bit longer and you can't aim drunk or hungover, doubly so for a sniper. But he lets himself share a bottle of 200 year old scotch (Lyons insists they've earned it) and some cans of equally old cram with Vargas and Lyons.

His mind keeps wandering to their visitor though. She's probably not even here anymore, but he wonders if she got that leg looked at, if she's okay after seeing her first behemoth (because he was shaking for a week after his) and if she finds whatever she's looking for from Three Dog.

He takes first shift on the right patio alone that night after dinner, despite Wilks' offer of company during watch, craving the company of the night sky and a holotape that he snagged from the Citadel for personal effects that a grateful scribe had composed for him.

Colvin doesn't expect or want to find company. Or at least that's what he thought until he realised it was the stray. She leaned against the railing, playing with the dials of her Pipboy and a cigarette between her lips. Someone's given her a change of clothes, the vault suit is gone, replaced with armour stitched together mostly from Brahmin leather, though the numbering from her old vault suit has been stitched onto the back. Perhaps a gift from Three Dog.

She doesn't notice him immediately, which is probably a good thing as the Knight Captain doesn't realise he's been just staring at her. When she does realise he's there, she looks up in surprise, pulling the cigarette from her lips and letting out a sharp exhale of smoke. "Oh, sorry, I just… the last guard left a while ago and I just…"

He blinks quickly and holds a hand up. "It's quite alright, friend, you're quite free to the base so long as you don't cause trouble." He reassures her, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth.

The stray blinks and nearly drops her cigarette, a look of recognition crossing her features. "I… Oh, it's you, the guy from earlier!" It suddenly occurs to Colvin that of course she didn't notice it was him immediately, she never saw him without his helmet off, only heard his voice through the filter of the helmet.

Her eyes snap shut, a beautiful shade of green that reminds him of Lyons' eyes, and her lips press together as she clicks her fingers together, attempting to reconstruct his name in her mind. "Carver? Cole?"

Colvin chuckles a little. "Knight Captain Colvin."

"Colvin." She repeats, as if trying the name out on her tongue, and smiles just a little and he finds himself relax at the sight.

' _Alright, now or never.'_ He figures and licks his lips. "So, I don't suppose you'd return the courtesy, friend?"

She tilts her head slightly and blinks. "Courtesy?"

"Your name, friend."

She blinks rapidly before chuckling. "Oh, well, I… you're the first person to ask."

"Sorry. We don't get many …" Colvin pauses and chooses his next words carefully. "…visitors this far in usually."

"Unless they're mercs, mutants or ghouls." She points out, a tab of bitterness in her tone, before taking a puff at her cigarette.

Colvin can't hold back a saddened sigh. "The wasteland is filled with many lost and tormented souls." He wonders whether or not he should point out that she never gave him an answer.

She smiles, more to herself and whispers. _"He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away."_

Colvin can't help staring at her as she speaks those words like she's… sent here from the Maker himself. "I… Wow." He whispers, almost breathless.

The stray chuckles and blushes, smoothing a stray strand of hair behind her ear before she takes another puff of her cigarette. "I… sorry, you recited that verse before the fight in the courtyard, before that…" She pales and shakes her head. "I just… reminded me of some stuff I'd heard on holotapes, back in the vault."

He licks his lips, realising how bad he wants a taste of her cigarette again before he realises he hasn't said anything and shakes his mind away. "How long you been gone?"

She smiles sadly. "About 2 weeks? Maybe 3? Would've come here as soon as I could but…" She shifts uncomfortably. "Took a few wrong turns, met some people, helped some people." A pause. "Killed others."

Colvin gives off a low whistle, leans back on the railing he doesn't realise he's moved against. "You've survived this long…" A pause. "Why'd you leave?"

Another pause.

"I… I didn't have a choice." She whispers, taking a shallow puff of her cigarette. "My father… he pissed off the Overseer, and… broke out." She shuts her eyes, as if seeing things she doesn't wish to remember. "They wanted me dead. My friend, the Overseer's daughter, she helped me get out. And I…" A sharp and shallow intake of air. "I just want him back."

Colvin is stunned and lost for words. Every instinct in his body screams at him to hug this girl but he knows that's not right (for fuck's sake he only met her a couple of hours ago) so he reaches out to touch her arm but suddenly she's tossed her cigarette on the ground, snuffing it with her foot.

"Sorry." She whispers.

He blinks. "I… Don't be, friend." He whispers back before clearing his throat. "So is that why you needed to see Three Dog so bad?"

"Yup." She inhales sharply through her nose, as if craving the fresh air after the cigarette. "Dad came here after going through Megaton to see … 'an old friend'." He gathers that's a loose term. "But of course, everyone wants something out here…"

There's a sudden and sharp protectiveness that overwhelms Colvin at that last sentence and causes him to stiffen a little. "What does Three Dog want?"

The stray gestures loosely with her head towards the GNR tower. "The dish is busted." She remarks flatly. "There's apparently one he can use at the Museum of Technology, so I'm headed over there after a much needed rest."

"That's deep in Ugly territory."

She pauses before looking up ahead at the skies. "So I've been told."

"And you're still going to go?"

She doesn't answer, merely kicks at the remains of her cigarette.

"You shouldn't go alone."

She chuckles emptily. "I can take care of myself. I have to." She pushes herself off the railing, moving to leave.

Colvin hesitates before he speaks up. "Your name, friend." He stresses, watching her pause when he speaks.

She looks back at him with curious eyes as if sizing him up but says nothing before she unlatches the door and leaves.

The Knight Captain is left alone to the lingering smell of smoke and brahmin leather.

The next morning when Colvin opens his locker to suit up into his power armour, he finds a written note under his helmet containing only a single word.

No. A name.

 _Evelyn.  
_


	4. Chapter 4

She's already gone before he and his brothers are fed and suited up for patrol, and some of his brothers seem to doubt she'll be back at all and that they'll stumble over her corpse when they go themselves to retrieve the dish as a favour to Three Dog. Colvin prays they are wrong.

Sentinel Lyons' is taking Vargas back to the Citadel, but she doesn't question when Colvin requests to stay behind with their brothers here for the moment, merely requests he sends word when he decides to head back so she can send the next lot of guard rotation out.

The Knight Captain sees them both off before he takes his patrol out for the day, tempted to make a check at the Museum of Technology for the vault dweller but knows he can't divert from the patrol without good excuse. About 3 hours into the patrol, one of the Knights, a kid named Travers, gives a happy cheer as their radio sputters alive with the GNR signal, Bob Crosby and the Bobcats singing _Way Back Home_.

Colvin stops dead in his tracks as a result, surprise flooding his senses that is quickly followed by relief. It's a sign, it has to be, it's a sign she made it, that she found what Three Dog needed and made it back _alive_ and he finds himself thanking the Maker under his breath.

But the stray is gone by the time he and the patrol make it back (no deaths, only minor injuries to Travers, a good day for the patrol and a prayer of thanks for the Lord) and he asks Wilks what happened.

"Went good, our patrol at the Washington monument radioed in pretty much as soon as the signal went up. Told us she showed up with the dish strapped to her pack and went up herself to make the switch. She's handy with electronics apparently." Wilks remarks, apparently rather pleased with her work.

Finley grins happily between a sip of Nuka Cola. "Margaret says that more people than ever are tuning in. It's… amazing. We've always been able to hear GNR, but it's like the station is brand new or something."

Dillion scoffs. "Too bad she showed up with a zombie with her."

Colvin blinks. "A ghoul?"

Wilks glances at Dillion. "Yeah… said he was her 'help', got him at Underworld and made it very clear she wouldn't take us giving him shit too."

Finley snorts. "You're just snappy because she's getting a backbone. What's the matter, Dillion? Jealous of her shuffler? Bet he gets a great view of her ass following her around all day."

Dillion splutters something angrily at Finley as Wilks breaks out a laugh, but Colvin pays no them no attention, his mind a thousand miles away. He's somewhat appreciative Finley isn't accusing him of jealousy because he didn't know it was possible to be _jealous_ of a ghoul, but fuck, what he wouldn't give to be in the shuffler's place.

Colvin glances at his three brothers and clears his throat before he speaks again, hoping his voice doesn't give anything away. "Where'd she say she was heading next?"

Dillion side glances Wilks but says nothing so the Knight Sergeant speaks up. "Three Dog gave her coordinates to Rivet City, and asked us to tell her the best way to get there."

"Through Metro." Colvin finishes for him, frowning.

"Yeah, but she asked about other stuff too. Wanted to know where the Statesmen Hotel was for some reason. Mentioned she had some people to save from there. From a lot of Uglies."

The Knight Captain finds himself smiling at that last comment. Of course she'd risk her own hide to save some people. Even if it jeopardised her own chances of finding her father.

"Must be some nice action at the Statesmen, sir." Finley retorts wistfully.

Wilks snaps a glare at Finley. "If it's action you want, how about cleaning up this pigsty of a barracks!"

Colvin doesn't intervene as Finley and Dillion recoil, and Wilks chews out his men. He just leans back in his chair and whispers a prayer under his breathe for the girl with _101_ stitched onto the back of her armour.

" _He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart."_


	5. Chapter 5

It's nearly 2 weeks before he sees the Vaultie again.

The Knight Captain had been staying at GNR, privately hoping she'd come by again before he is requested back to the Citadel. Instead all he gets are the stories of her. The disarming of the Megaton bomb, finding a home for an orphan named Wilks (he glances at their own Wilks when that story comes up but Wilks just stares blankly at the radio, a look Colvin cannot name on his features), the successful rescue of a merc company called 'Reilly's Rangers' (he guesses that's why she had to go to the Statesmen) and the confirmation that she was looking for her father.

Colvin can't help but be a bit suspicious that Three Dog refuses to call her by her name however. There's a part that wonders if the disk jockey (what's a disk? Hell if he knows) even KNOWS her name, but he has another theory that he keeps to himself for now.

It is hard to shake her from his thoughts, even without listening to Three Dog's apparent fascination with her adventures, and Colvin feels somewhat moronic for letting his thoughts wander to her so often. He was 40, a seasoned man and veteran of many battles, not some smitten teenager doodling her name in hearts on the corners of papers.

Yet he passed the days, in between sending dispossessed souls to greet their maker, thinking of her. Thinking of the way she would show him her favourite passages of the Holy book, thinking of the way her voice would lower in peace and sanctity as she spoke those passages to him, thinking of the way those words would taste against his lips…

"Why does he keep calling her 'The Lone Wanderer' if she's got the ghoul with her?" Finley points out one day during off duty.

"Because it makes her sound more dramatic." Wilks replies tiredly from his place on the couch with his inventory checklist. Colvin felt a tad guilty for not helping his brother out with that, but he had a good hand right now and was on a good roll.

"But she's not technically alone." Finley points out, not noticing the fact that Knight Carbone, a woman and one of the few locals to make it far enough to reach the title of Knight, had made a quick glance at his cards. "She's got the zombie merc with her. And a dog now apparently."

Carbone raises another 5 caps as Wilks gives a long sigh. "It's just a title, Finley." Wilks explains, his tone decidedly more irritated as his frown increases over a particular part of his report and the Knight Sergeant mumbles something about needing a resupply of 5mm ammo from the Citadel or Rivet city soon.

Carbone smirks as Finley folds. "He's romanticising her." She speaks up and Colvin muses over the fact that he wasn't the only one to theorise that, he needs to give Carbone more credit in the future. "It's all about 'Fighting the Good Fight'. It's why he calls her the Vault Legend as well, Finley."

Travers glowers as he looks over his cards. "Fold. I thought he was calling her a Paladin?" Admittedly that name caused a few annoyances with some of the brothers.

"You're a bit behind, Brother." Finley remarks. "She waltzed into the Evergreen Mills few days ago, slaughtered the raiders and set the slaves free and apparently Three Dog thought that was good enough to upgrade her."

"Why was she up that far?" Travers asks, frowning.

"Who knows," Carbone comments with an uncaring shrug. "Maybe the Lone Wanderer was trying to find another vault to crawl back into." She suggests, giving a little chuckle as she does so.

' _Evelyn.'_ Colvin thinks to himself. ' _Her name is Evelyn_.'

"Knight Captain? You feeling okay?" Travers asks, frowning at the blonde man.

Colvin gave his head a quick shake before shooting the younger man a smile. "I'm alright, brother. Thank you for the concern." He gave a quick glance at his cards and grinned. "I call."

His brothers let it slide for now and continue their game, their chat about the Vaultie sliding away in favour of gossip about the new Initiates and the scribes back at the Citadel.

However 15 minutes later, the radio from the front door stutters alive with Dillion's voice. "Knight Sergeant? The Vaultie is here. She says she wants to speak to you."

Colvin's heart skips a beat. She's here? He moves to get up as Wilks gives his reply and shoves aside his reports but Carbone lets out a noise of protest. "You're ditching, Knight Captain?"

"I fold." He quickly remarked, tossing his cards at the table as he moves to follow Wilks from the Barracks to the Entrance, briefly hearing the noise of anger from Finley. Apparently the Knight Captain had had a good hand.


	6. Chapter 6

There's a familiar figure at the door, however she's too busy sending glares at Dillion for making a remark about her companions to notice Colvin.

"That THING better be toilet trained."

"You better sure as fuck be talking about Dogmeat."

"That what you call your _pet_?"

Wilks opens his mouth and the Vaultie looks ready to punch Dillion but Colvin beats them both to it. "Knight Dillion, you are relieved from duty, go on your break." He barks at the Knight before anyone else has a chance to snap in.

The Knight Sergeant blinks at Colvin but says nothing, turning his attention to the Lone Wanderer as Dillion shuffles off, grumbling.

Colvin makes sure to take her in well. She's tanner then he remembers with a few still healing wounds present on her visible skin, and has shaved off half her hair, looking more like a local then she did when he first saw her in that modified vault suit. But it's not bad. It suits her, she looks more rugged and more like the hero that Three Dog sings she is. The Knight Captain makes a proud note of the sniper rifle swung over her shoulder and can't help but wonder if that was his influence.

Finley was right, there's a mutt sitting at her heels, panting happily as he stares up at his owner, but Colvin finds most of his attention on her other travelling companion. Maybe a part of him had hoped it wasn't true but it turns out her other companion (her first) was a zombie after all. Nearly a head taller than the rest of them with a stern and gruff expression seemingly permanently carved into his features (or what was left of them), he at least carries himself like a seasoned warrior. Colvin bitterly hopes that that's true, that this… _man_ has been taking care of the Lone Wanderer, of _Evelyn_.

The Vaultie chuckles, a warm and rich sound that makes Colvin's stomach flutter (not the way it does when he eats mole rat, but in a good way, in a way he hasn't felt in years). "And I thought I had a bad reception the first time I showed up."

Wilks stiffens but makes no show of disrespect. "Pleasure as always, 101. You here to see Three Dog?"

She flashes a quick smile at Colvin with a look he can't quite place but that makes his stomach flutter again. "Nice to see you again, Knight Captain. You still here? Hope you weren't waiting for lil' old me."

' _Yes.'_ He wants to admit, but instead Colvin gives off a quiet laugh, breaking her gaze to glance at the ground. Dammit, why does he feel like a teenager again when it comes to her? "No, no new orders yet. Figured the least I could do is help out my brothers here."

"Very noble of you." She remarks, grinning before turning to Wilks. "Actually. I'm here to see you guys. I need… something. I figured you'd be the best guys to ask. Can we go somewhere more private?"

Wilks pauses before glancing at Colvin, who merely shrugs in response before Wilks sighs and nods, gesturing them to follow them to one of the back rooms, usually used for a visiting scribe whenever there was one.

Colvin lets the Knight Sergeant take the lead on this, moving to lean back against a wall as he watches the Vault Dweller signal for her ghoul to close the door behind them.

"I'll be frank. I need help." She's straight to the point. Colvin admires that. "I… My father was working on something at the Jefferson memorial. Something the Brotherhood has helped out with before." She stares hard at the two men. "He's gone off to Vault 112. Looking for something, anything, by a man named 'Dr Stanislaus Braun'."

Wilks clears his throat. "If you're asking us to … _divulge_ in what we know, well that's simply just not going to happen, Lone Wanderer. The Brotherhood – "

He's interrupted as she snorts in anger. "I'm not asking for the Brotherhood to help me out in exchange for a few decent deeds." She gestures to her ghoul, who slides a pack off his shoulder. "I'm demanding it."

The ghoul drops the pack onto the ground before Wilks' feet, a few of the contents spilling out, forcing the Knight Sergeant to bend down.

Wilks swears softly under his breath as he picked up a pristine condition power helmet, a T-51b power helmet to be exact, which had been painted with a smooth and snowy camouflage paint job.

Colvin thought fondly of his old T-51b power armour set, the one he had received back in California. It had been with him ever since he had earned the right to wear it, but months on the road from the West to the East and finally, the Pitt, had left it and so many others, in such bad repair, it was easier to just switch to the T-45d armour, which had been found beforehand in a former army base. He was sure Rothchild had the suits stored somewhere, unless he'd ultimately broken them down in favour of repairing their current T-45d sets.

"Untouched, no rust, probably designed for Anchorage." Wilks whispered as he ran a gloved hand over the helmet, the dust from his from his glove the only evidence of exposure the armour had probably even seen before the war, before he settles back into the pile, picking up the chest plate next before he cast a glance towards Colvin. "T-51b was a good set, it'd be great to have these again but… one suit isn't going to repair our old ones, provided we still even HAVE them."

The Vaultie gives smug grin and reaches down, giving the chest plate a good shake before a rolled up blueprint falls free onto the ground. "Good thing I grabbed the schematics for them then, huh?"

Wilks and Colvin share a stunned stare at one another, then at the Vaultie, at a loss for words.

What the hell did she stumble across? _How_ the hell did she stumble across this!?

"Pretty neat, huh?" She chirps happily. "There's a Gauss rifle in there too, schematics for that too… tried it out on my way here, threw a mean punch at some of the muties."

The Knight Sergeant looks up at her, at a complete loss for words before finally managing a single word. "How…?"

"Did you know there was a virtually untouched bunker of Pre-War tech a little off Bailey's Crossroads? With an Anchorage simulation designed to prepare soldiers for the war, and an unopened armoury since before the war?" The Vaultie doesn't give them time to answer. "Because your 'estranged brethren', as Three Dog puts it, sure did."

"The Outcasts." Colvin finally speaks.

"Yup. And I thought the Brotherhood was frosty to 'locals'. At least you guys didn't try to kill me after I helped you."

Colvin tenses when he hears that. How _dare_ those _traitors_ try and kill her after she so generously helped them.

' _Only fair she ripped them off then.'_ He supposes.

 _Assuming that's what she's doing._ Another part of his mind hisses and the Knight Captain shudders at the thought of being betrayed by her.

"You killed them then?" Wilks asks cautiously and Colvin can understand why, a lot of friends were separated due to the outcasts deciding to leave, but he says nothing.

"Only the ones that shot back." The Vaultie reassures him. "The armoury only opened if someone could get through the simulation which you needed a 'computer interface device', like my Pipboy, so the guy in charge," A pause before she looks back at her ghoul. "Charon, his name was McGraw, right?"

The ghoul, Charon, gives her an uncaring shrug which she seems to take as a yes. "Anyway, McGraw made a deal with me, I go through the sim for him, and he let me have a share of take." A pregnant pause then she shrugged. "I may have taken more then I should've but he didn't seem to mind at the time considering I'd just saved him and his friend from being a stain on the ground, besides, there was quite a treasure trove in that armoury."

Colvin can't help smirking at that.

"Now… I'm a generous woman." The Vaultie remarked, reaching into her pockets to fish out her cigarette pack and a lighter, lighting herself up a smoke and taking a long drag before speaking again. "And I like you guys a hell of a lot better than those assholes. I don't want whatever you have on Dr. Braun, I just want …" She catches Colvin's gaze and with the look she gives him, he swears all the blood rushes south of his body as she does. "I just want the location of the Vault Tec HQ here in DC. I can do the rest myself." Her mutt gives an almost argumantive bark and she smiles, reaching down with her free hand to give his ears a scratch. "Well, not by myself, but you get the picture."

There's a deathly silence in the room before Wilks clears his throat and speaks again, softer and barely above a whisper, as if afraid that Rothchild would hear him all the way back at Citadel otherwise. " _Just_ the location of the HQ?"

"I know you lot are usually uncomfortable enough as it is sharing more than that," She reassures them in a decidedly much softer tone than before. "So, yeah, that's all I want."

"Then it's a deal." Colvin immediately interjects before Wilks has a chance to even consider it, stepping forward to offer his hand. "I'll have the coordinates written down for you and give you our take on the best way there as well." He avoids being obvious and offering to take her personally (and not just because they wouldn't be alone). Colvin gestures his head to Wilks. "Brother, would you mind getting her the coordinates?"

Wilks nods, before he hesitantly gathers the bounty back into the pack and rushes off with it before she can seemingly change her mind.

The Vaultie, _Evelyn_ , smirks and takes his hand, giving him a robust handshake and suddenly Colvin is all too aware of how small her hands are compared to his. _"Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have,_ Knight Captain." She whispers under her breath before she lets go of his hand and he has to resist every urge to pull it back.

She takes another long drag at her cigarette before she gestures to her companions. "Charon, Dogmeat, come on, I don't feel like going back out there again today, we'll bunk up with Three Dog."

Colvin eyes wander over her figure as she turns and leaves and once again, he is left craving the taste of her cigarette all over again.


	7. Chapter 7

As the highest ranking Brotherhood member at the GNR outpost and the one who _technically_ made the deal, it is Colvin's duty to inform the Citadel of the decision. Not because what they gave was so valuable, but rather what they received. Lucky for Colvin, the only working radio with a far enough frequency to reach to the Citadel is upstairs with Three Dog, so Colvin makes his upstairs as Wilks goes to find somewhere to stash the schematics and books until some sort of delivery to the Citadel can be made or they send someone there to pick them up.

He's somewhat unsurprised to find Three Dog 'interviewing' her (or at least, attempting to) when he makes his way up. The ghoul had taken a place in the corner, the mutt curled up at his feet, taking a snooze, and was in the process of disassembling his shotgun to clean, but looked somewhat tense at not being between his employer and the Disk Jockey.

Colvin clears his throat and three sets of eyes turn on him (not the dog, who seems quite content to keep snoozing), one accusing, one confused and the last, hers, looking at him with a somewhat desperate expression. Clearly she was not taking well to being interviewed. "Sorry, Three Dog. I need to contact the Citadel."

Three Dog gives a hearty nod. "Sure! Go right ahead, Knight Captain. The Lone Wanderer here was just telling me about the details of how she saved Bryan Wilks." She winces at his enthusiasm and Colvin has to resist a smile.

The Knight Captain figures, what the hell, and decides to throw her a bone. "Well, uh, I'm going to need a bit of quiet is all, Three Dog, so…"

The look on the Vaultie's face is one of relief before Three Dog speaks again. "Ah, well that's no problem, we'll just head down stairs and continue this…"

Her face quickly flashes to dismay before she speaks up quickly. "A-Actually, Knight Captain, since I'm the one who gave you the cache, aren't I sort of involved in this process?"

Colvin looks down at her, feels his throat tighten a bit at the way her eyes are staring up at him in desperation then gives her a smile and a nod. "Oh, right, silly me." He glances over at Three Dog. "Do you mind, Three Dog? Normally I wouldn't ask but what she found was… pretty confidential."

The radio host frowns, looking fairly disappointed before the Vaultie speaks up again. "I'm sure Charon would be _more than happy_ to tell you the details of that… skirmish with the raiders."

"What?" Her ghoul speaks up, frowning.

She shoots the ghoul a hard glare masked only by a thin smile. "Right, Charon? Don't worry about your gun, just leave it up here and you can come back to it later, ok?"

Charon is quiet for a moment before he sighs and pushes himself up, leaving the snoring dog at his post, following Three Dog downstairs, the disk jockey already beginning to ramble on questions about something.

When they both heard the click of the door closing, she loudly lets out an exasperated exhale. "Thank you… I mean, I get it, he's really impressed and interested and yeah, I guess I've done some good things but _oh my god…"_ She complains, groaning as she runs a hand through what's left of her hair.

Colvin gives a small smile as he moves towards the ham radio, pulling his helmet off in the process. Regardless of whatever lie he had just told Three Dog, he really did have to give a report to the Citadel. "Well you're… rare. You don't have to do any of these things, but, you do, and it makes an already hard life easier for others."

The Vaultie gives a hard sigh. "Not easy enough…"

He gives her a look of sympathy as he takes his seat, placing his helmet on the table before beginning to fiddle with the dials to set it to the Citadel's frequency. "I mean it, you have no idea what you do for some people out there," Colvin explains, "I mean, like the dish for example. You gave people back something that just lets them forget, even for a little while."

She winces. "That's –"

He holds up a hand as the crackle of the signal comes through and she immediately silences. "Come in, Citadel, this is GNR Outpost, do you read? Over."

Brief silence before a voice he can't place, probably a Journeyman, comes over the signal. _"GNR Outpost, this is the Citadel responding, what do you have to report? Over."_

"We have received a stash of pre-war books and weapon and armour schematics. These are high value schematics, please inform Scribe Rothchild that they will require immediate transportation to the Citadel. Over."

A pause and murmured whispers over the signal before the Scribe speaks again. " _Scribe Rothchild is currently in a meeting with Elder Lyons, we will forward your message and he will personally contact you at a later date. What time is suitable? Over."_

Colvin gave a quick check at clock overlooking Three Dog's equipment before he responded. "Roughly 1 hour from now. 1935 hours. I will be waiting for his response. GNR outpost, over and out."

" _Roger, GNR outpost. Citadel, over and out."_

Colvin is in the process of setting the time on the personal clock on his helmet when she speaks again. "Wow, didn't think people still talked like that… I've only ever seen it on pre-war films."

He glances at her. "You didn't have radios in the vault?"

She makes a face at him. "No, we did, just … didn't speak like that. I mean, the only guys who really used radio systems was the Overseer and security and that…"

Colvin pauses before he thinks to ask. "What did you do? In the Vault I mean."

The Vaultie hums and leans back in her chair. "You take a test when you're 16, called the GOAT, which is 'designed to determine the job you are best suited for'." She scoffs. "Load of crap if you ask me."

"And what did you get?"

She winces. "Pip-Boy programmer. My dad was pretty pleased actually." The Vaultie looks down at her feet, clearly thinking back. "But… there weren't a lot of us in the vault anymore. So I did odd jobs as well, cleaned and kept up repairs. Dad said I was basically an Engineer really."

"It suits you." He remarks. "Intelligent, resilient," _Good with your hands_ , _beautiful._

The Vaultie paused and tilted her head at him. "And what about you?"

Colvin blinks. "Me?"

"I don't know much about the Brotherhood admittedly, but you don't seem like a local of the Wasteland." She smiles at him. "And I'm telling you my story, doesn't it seem fair that you tell me yours?"

Colvin has to blink again, then realises for all his fascination with her he probably wasn't any better than Three Dog, romanticising her as a hero. "I… oh, forgive me." He clears his throat. "You're right. I'm not a local. Was born into the order in California, and only 17 when I volunteered to accompany Elder Lyons, who was Paladin Lyons at the time."

"Wait. You were only 17 at the time?" She interrupts, blinking rapidly.

Colvin chuckles. "Yes, but I was already a Knight at the time and already quite seasoned in the ways of battle, the Brotherhood has us start our practises young."

"Huh, and I thought I had it bad…" She murmurs under her breath and Colvin begins to find himself facing a reality he had feared a while ago when he first met her. Her age.

"And how old are you?"

"20, next July." The Vaultie replies, not missing a beat.

And there it is, the hot stab of guilt seeping through Colvin's chest. "Oh." Being all he can manage. He had known, or suspected at least, Three Dog kept calling her kid after all, but to know she was only _19 years old…_

The Vaultie seems less effected then he is, merely raising an eyebrow at him. "Is the man who was bragging about being a 17 year old Knight when he trekked across the country over 20 years ago suddenly at a loss for words?" She teases, smirking wickedly.

He glances at her and she shrugs. "You… made an impression." She explains.

' _Me or the order?'_ Colvin wonders to himself as she continues.

"I asked around. Dr Li was probably the most help. Your order actually helped out my parents with 'Project Purity', before…" Her expression falters and she clears her throat, clearly not wishing to touch on the issue. "The point is, it's not a problem, Colvin." She assures him, giving him a bright smile and he swallows hard as she says his name for the first time in two weeks.

Colvin shifts on the spot. "With all due respect, I'm nearly twice your age."

"And?"

 _And I've been thinking about you in the worst possible ways._

"Your commanding officer, Lyons, she's only 26, right? What's the difference?" She points out, frowning.

 _I don't think of Lyons, of_ _Sarah_ _, like that though._

"It's not like that with Sentinel Lyons." He insists, avoiding her gaze now.

She pauses and for a while, he thinks he's succussed in having her drop the issue. "Is it the way you look at me?" She finally whispers and Colvin can feel another hot stab of guilt in his gut.

"I… don't know what you mean."

The Vaultie chuckles. "Colvin, has it ever occurred to you that I _like_ older men?" She teases but he still avoids her gaze so she sighs and he hears her shift off her chair. "Look, we're… both human. Humans in a really shitty situation. Humans who are both… attracted to one another."

Colvin looks up to find her standing before him, smirking slightly. "You're quite a looker, Knight Captain, don't know if you realised that." She teases before leaning down, hands on his shoulder plate and her face inches away from him. "Intelligent too and kind, really damn good with your rifle..."

Colvin gazes at her, lost in her eyes and her words and swallows hard. "I'm old enough to be your father, Evelyn." He reminds her.

She chuckles. "And I'm old enough to make my own decisions, Colvin."

Before he can protest she's crushing her lips against his, a sharp and forceful kiss that takes his breathe away freezes him in place and before he can react she's pulled back, licking her lips and whispering. _"But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart."_

Colvin stares at her, unsure of what to do or how to reply, still tasting her on his lips and she doesn't really give him a chance to respond before her lips are on him again. The kiss is slower and more indulgent, and Colvin can't help relaxing into it, closing his eyes and returning the kiss, his hands reaching up to rest on her waist and pull her closer.

The only thoughts running through his mind are of her, of the smell of sweat, dust and Brahmin leather and the taste of smoke, nicotine and nuka-cola on her lips.


End file.
